Quote of The Day # 28

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow.”
—William Shakespeare

Quote Of The Day # 27

“We are not given a good or bad life; we are given a life. It is up to us whether our life is good or bad.”
—Ward Foley

Quote Of The Day # 26

“You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to be accepted by yourself.”
—Thich Naht Hanh

Quote of The Day # 25

“Forgive your enemies—it messes up their heads.”
—Anonymous

Quote of The Day # 24

”Be yourself—who else is better qualified?”

—Frank J. Giblin

Quote of The Day # 23

“Neither you nor the world knows what you can do until you have tried.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of The Day # 22

”Kindness is a language that the blind can see and the deaf can hear.”
—Mark Twain

Quote of The Day # 21

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

Quote of The Day # 20

“Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure.”
—William Saroyan

Quote of The Day # 19

“A problem is a chance to do your best.”
—Duke Ellington

Fragile

Oh

I’m not fragile

I’m gonna

set their expectations high

I’m gonna reach the sky. 

Oh I’m not fragile

When you try to cut me down

When you try to tell me

 that I’m wrong

I’m not breaking down. 

‘Cause I’m not fragile.

Oh I’m not fragile

I’m not gonna break. 

I’m gonna live this dream of mine. 

And nothing’s stopping me....

‘Cause I’m not fragile

I’m gonna set their expectations high

I’m gonna

reach the sky.

‘Cause I’m not fragile. 

Quote of The Day # 18

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
—A.A Milne

Quote of The Day # 17

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you will make one.”
—Elbert Hubbard

Quote of The Day # 16

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
—Dr. Suess

Quote of The Day # 15

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of The Day # 14

“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you’re doomed if you don’t try.”
—Beverly Sills

Quote of The Day # 13

”Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
 —Ian Maclaren

Forgiveness

  Forgiveness is important. I’m sure you already know this. I’m sure you also know that it is very hard to forgive. It is for me, at least. But I try to ask myself, “What would Jesus do?” This is very, very hard. I’m imperfect and sometimes it’s very hard to forgive. But I want to be the best version of myself. I want to be as much like Christ as possible—which is, unfortunately, easier said than done.
  But second chances are important—and sometimes necessary. I know it’s very hard to give a second chance to someone who hurt you. You may think it would make you gullible if you gave someone another chance and they hurt you again. But it wouldn’t. It would make you a so much better person than the person who hurt you. Forgiveness is a very hard thing to do. But I know we all can do it.

“When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or
let it strengthen you.”
—Dr. Suess

Quote of The Day # 12

”It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded.”
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Quote of The Day # 11

“To the world, you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.”
—Theodore Geisel “Dr. Suess”

Quote of the Day # 10

”The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”
—Walter Bagehot

Quote of The Day # 9

“You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.” —Wonder

Quote Of The Day # 8

“It’s not enough to be friendly. You have to be a friend.”
—Wonder

Quote of The Day # 7

“You can’t judge someone based on only one action. After all, a person’s life can’t be summed up in just one moment.”
—Unknown

Rollercoaster of Emotions

 My life doesn’t go in circles
No, never circles
A rollercoaster
of emotions
I want to take this rollercoaster on a ride
The ride of my life
Emotions
Anger, hurt, happiness
Emotions
That’s what my life is
A rollercoaster
Of emotions.

Oh, this is a good thing
Oh, this is my life
And I wouldn’t change a thing
This roller coaster
This is my life.
This is me.
Me and my emotions
All the time.

This is my life.
This is my rollercoaster.
My rollercoaster of emotions.
Oh, I’m going
On the ride of my life.
Oh, emotions
Anger, hurt, happiness
This is my life.
This rollercoaster.
Of emotions.

FDR

The quote for today is one of my favorites—“There is nothing to fear but fear itself”—by Franklin D. Roosevelt (my favorite president).  Just a little background in case you don’t know who he is—Franklin Delano Roosevelt was our 32nd president. He was elected into office in the middle of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt was smart and very popular with the American people. He saved the American economy by coming up with the New Deal, which was a series of alphabet programs.
  However, he got sick. Franklin got polio, which made him unable to walk. He couldn’t move without the use of heavy metal braces. His mother, Sara, wanted him to be taken care of and pursue his childhood hobby, collecting stamps. Did Franklin want to give up, however? No! His wife and distant cousin, Anna Roosevelt, called Eleanor, pushed him to pursue politics. With her encouragement, and also the help of his sons, Franklin grew to become possibly the best president that this country has ever had. He hid the fact that he had a wheelchair and at first he only walked in public. He led the country through the deadliest war in American history, World War II. Some people thought that because he was crippled with polio, he couldn’t lead the country well enough. He proved them all wrong. Some people said that no one had ever been president during such trying times except Washington and Lincoln.
  I think that was seriously brave of Franklin. If he had been so afraid of his polio that he decided to retire from the presidency, than America might not have won the war. This just proves his quote. This is why I admire Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Quote of The Day # 6

”There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

Quote of The Day # 5

”Your deeds are your monuments.”
—Unknown

Quote of The Day # 4

“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”
—Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Quote of The Day # 3

“Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.”
—Blaine Pascal

A Challenge In Disguise

The transition from elementary school to middle school is hard. I have seven classes now and I walk all over the school. I have PE every day now.
  Some kids can be mean. I know that. I need an aide to help me walk to class and I have an APE—adapted physical education—coach who helps to modify PE activities to make them easier for me.
I really appreciate all of their help, but I struggle with the comments that kids make. In PE we have to change into our uniforms, and in the locker rooom one girl was like, “You’re slowing us all down!” That hurt because she hadn’t even opened her locker yet. Well, after I had opened my locker and gotten dressed, I opened hers for her.
 After I had walked to PE with my aide, one girl said, “The only reason you have an aide is because there’s something wrong with you.” I’d gotten the “wrong” comment several times before, and it still hurts every time someone says it. But I just ignored her and continued getting dressed. Let me tell you something—it is really, really hard to ignore someone like that. But it’s just not my style to retaliate. The important thing is, that after people tell you stuff like that, don’t believe them. They have more things “wrong” with them than you. Everyone does—we’re imperfect humans. They most likely are trying to pull you down because it makes them look better. But here’s the thing—it doesn’t make anyone look better to be mean to someone. It probably just makes them feel better.
I know it’s really hard to deal with that. You’ll get through it, I promise. And I will, too.

Quote of The Day # 2

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt

Quote of the Day #1

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day, ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.’
—Mary Anne Radmacher

Strength and Bravery

Don’t change me
Just leave me be
I’m running
From life, from responsibilities
I’m keeping my priorities
Number one
Don’t give up.
Don’t give in.
You can’t keep running
From failure.
You can’t keep trying
Not to fall.
You’re gonna fail eventually
And that’s okay. It’s how life goes.

Strength and bravery
It’s what it takes to get back up
And try again.

Don’t change me
Strength and bravery
It’s what it takes to get back up
And try again.

Strength and bravery
Don’t change me
I know it’s hard not to fit in
I know it’s hard
To be different.
But one thing I’m not doing
is giving in.
Yes, I’m different
Yes, I don’t fit in
I’m proud that I don’t fit the mold
Or so I’m told.
So don’t change me.
Strength and bravery

It’s what it takes
to get back up
And try again.

A Piece of What It’s Like To Have Anxiety

Imagine this—You can’t sleep. You’ve gotten comfortable and done all you can do to fall asleep. You can’t turn off the thoughts in your head. You’re stuck in your mind and you can’t get out. Think of the beach. You’re standing in the squishy sand and you close your eyes. You try to tune out the rolling ocean waves, but you can’t. That’s how I feel with my anxiety. I feel like I’m having a wrestling match with my mind and my mind is winning.
  My head is buzzing with thoughts, issues that maybe don’t affect me right now, but they will affect me someday soon. Sometimes what helps with my anxiety is writing down my thoughts or worries. Then I usually talk about them with one of my parents. Even if you don’t have anyone to talk about your worries with, you can still write them down. If you have something you need to take care of soon and are worried you will forget it, sometimes if you write it down it may ease your anxiety. I usually write in my anxiety notebook at night and keep it by my bed so that if I have something I need to write down during the night, then I can. I can look at what I wrote the next day. If you are having anxiety, you are not alone. Plenty of other people are having anxiety, too. Everyone’s anxiety is different, so people may not know exactly what you’re going through, but they understand. I hope this strategy helps to ease your anxiety. Good luck! I’m rooting for you!

Brave

Courage like a lion
When winter roars in
Bravery of blackness
And of silence, too

Icicles as icy as fear
Rain hitting my face
As I ran from time, from life
Struggles, tears

They pelted my face
The raindrops
Pain ruled me
As I look back in the past
Now I see

My soul was quiet
Finally
My brain chattered on
Kept me company

I looked at the sky
Wished on the stars
Saw the horizon sink

I can’t give up,
I thought as I floated away
So I fought, I paddled, I screamed

I was sinking
But I couldn’t break
Patience would win
A battle against pain.

My soul howled with the wind
As it carried me away
That beautiful night.

Middle School

I am going into sixth grade this year, and that means...middle school! I am kind of excited, especially to see my friends again. But I’m nervous, too. Mostly I’m nervous for PE because in school, that’s probably my biggest challenge. To me, PE feels like a massive obstacle right now. I have an APE—adapted physical education—teacher who modifies PE activities to make them easier for me. I know you’re probably thinking, That’s a good thing, right? And it is, in some ways. The problem is, an extra PE coach hovering around me makes the other kids stare at me like, What’s wrong with her? Why does she need an extra PE coach?  And I hate that, because some other kids think that I can’t see them staring at me. But I can. I know that they’re staring at me. There is a good thing, though. The good thing is that I have a lot of my friends in my PE class. They know that I have feelings and they’re too nice to stare at me. They wouldn’t really care that I have an extra PE coach. I’m so glad I have such awesome friends!
  Another problem is that after my Botox injection, my physical therapist wants to cast me. The casts are thick and itchy. They’re uncomfortable and it makes school even harder. The casts make me feel like I’m a magnet for kids’ eyes.
   However, the bright side is that everyone can sign my casts if they want to. That makes my casts look a little better than just plain white, at least. I guess the worst part is the comments. One time I was walking in Home Depot with my casts, and one lady was like, “Honey, you broke both of your legs?! My goodness!” That was so embarrassing. My casts help my legs, and that’s a good thing. If casts will help, then I’ll learn to get through it.

Geaux Strong

This summer, I signed up for a swimming program called Geaux Strong. It was for kids with physical challenges. We each got a buddy to swim with who would help us with kicking, arm exercises, and swimming in general. My buddy was the best this year! She was really caring and kind, and also really fun to hang out with. We would joke around and we had competitions together. She made things that usually aren’t very fun for me, like arm exercises, fun.
  Geaux Strong was also a really good place to make friends with other kids. It was a really accepting atmosphere that was supportive and also just really fun. When we did team relay races, everyone would be rooting for everybody. It was awesome.
    So I was really sad when it ended, but one good thing was that my buddy and I stayed in touch. We e-Mail and send each other letters. It’s kind of like having a really positive older sister. So Geaux Strong was really fun. I definitely want to do it next year!

Purple Independence

I was so excited! My physical therapist had nominated me for a bike!

The McLindon Foundation provided the bike for me after St. Jude’s Apostle School raised money for it. They presented it to me at St. Jude’s Apostle School and even made a tunnel for me to ride it through! Afterwards, I addressed the whole school, saying how thankful I was for the bike and the fact that the school raised money for it. My heart was pounding and I was shaking the entire time. After that, I was interviewed by WAFB and the story was put on the news that night! It was such an exciting day!
   I felt so grateful to all of them, but I also felt happy for other reasons. Now I had my own bike—a purple one, my favorite color! I felt like I had independence. Now I could go my own pace. And I wouldn’t fall off because of the bike’s three wheels!
   My bike is so much more to me than just a bike. It allows me to spend time with my family when we go biking. My own bike means that I can keep up with everyone else. And that is one reason why I named my bike Purple Independence.
   Another reason is that I had always ridden on a tandem bike that my dad controlled. Now I was in control, and it felt great! I loved the feeling of the wind rushing in my face. I controlled everything my bike did. Me...In control! That meant for me, independence. Purple Independence! 

Different

Wouldn’t it be amazing
If I walked in the door
and didn’t have to worry anymore
About the teasing,
The stares, the titters
What if it didn’t matter
How I walked
or I talked?

The same for the little boy in class
Who stumbles and falls
Who picks himself up
as everybody laughs.
What if it didn’t matter?

The silent boy
who gazes into space
Not understanding a word
That anyone says.
What if it didn’t matter?

And for the smart one
Who doesn’t mean to show off
but can’t keep her words inside
Anymore.
What if it didn’t matter?

The same for the girl
Who finds herself friendless
Who finds herself “different”
What if it didn’t matter?
‘Cause we’re all different.

So why don’t we accept
each other
For who we are
On the inside
AND on the outside?

Camp Dream Street

This summer, I went to overnight camp for a week at a camp called Camp Dream Street, a camp for kids with physical challenges. Camp was challenging for me. My family and I are very close, so it was hard to be away from them for that long. Also, I have a lot of anxiety, especially at night, because I can’t shut my brain off to fall asleep. There are too many thoughts buzzing around in my head that make me feel a certain way.
   On the other hand, camp was just plain fun. It was also really accepting—I don’t have to worry about anyone being mean or staring, trying to figure me out. My differences don’t get ignored—it becomes a positive thing about me. Instead of, “Hey, why do you wear those AFOs?”, at camp the comment is, “I really like your AFOs. They’re really cool.” I get to meet other kids who understand me and my perspective on being different. It’s a really amazing experience.
  Also, I get to focus on what I like there—arts and crafts, horseback riding, swimming. It isn’t hard to do these things at camp, even though it sometimes is hard at home. The counselors like to help, and they don’t act like it’s a really big deal to help you.
  The people there are some of the most positive people I’ll ever meet. They have their challenge, and instead of dwelling on it, they’re like, “OK, now what?” That is how I want to be.
  Camp is a really positive—and awesome—experience. I can’t wait to go back next year!